What do you do when a Brother makes a mistake?
 

I was wondering, theoretically....

What would your Chapter do to a brother/sister that has stole money? and lots of it?

I found out that a Sorority's treasurer stole $300 dollars and was pretty much kicked out. Is that the right thing to do? or is there a better alternative? In another situation, another Sorority treasurer spent over $10,000 on clothes and accessories. On my campus, a certain Frat's eboard was caught in a money laundering and drug trafficking case. What would your organization, chapter, or nationals do to the brother/sister? Please be specific, if possible? Thanks.

A mistake is misspelling the chapter president's name in chapter documents.

Stealing $300 is not a mistake. It is a crime. Kick his sorry a** out and call the district attorneys office to file criminal charges.

Also, get him officially expelled by your National.

Cosign. If we can stand for anything, we can stand for the proposition that stealing is bad. It's just never justified.

Also, take some steps to protect yourself. Require that all checks be signed by at least two officers, require that the treasurer fully disclose all activity in the fraternity accounts each week to the eboard, and for God's sake, never deal in cash -- never take dues in cash, never pay anyone in cash. Create a situation where it'd be impossible to cover up theft and theft will not happen.

In addition to what LaneSig said, I'd initiate civil proceedings against the guy to get the money back.

This is why I love Billhighway. I get access to all of my chapters' accounts and can view all the cash in and cash out. And checks can't be printed unless they're signed by two officers.

I was shocked to learn in a Risk Management workshop I recently attended, that (at least in my org) money problems is the number one RM issue. I don't think students should be treasurers, I think it is something advisors or student life should take care of.

It depends on what you think the purpose of your organization is. I'm personally grateful for having been able to serve as treasurer. It wasn't much fun at the time, but for me and anyone else who served as a treasurer (and didn't steal), it's always a great experience -- hounding people for dues and basically being solely responsible for the financial success of your organization.

With appropriate oversight from the executive board, the membership and alumni as well as by adopting certain accounting practices, a lot of theft issues can be averted.

Having a treasurer is part of the fraternal experience. It's an opportunity for collegiates to get a little taste of what it's like to run a business.

I totally agree. As a member of an advisory board where everyone lives at least an hour from campus, we can't be responsible for the day to day expenses. What we can do, however, is look over the budget carefully, email and phone a great deal, and expect the same from our treasurer.

Perhaps even more important is what occurs during elections. We discuss the position of treasurer a great deal and make sure the sisters understand the expectations. They always seem to choose a sister who is perfect to be treasurer--very attentive to detail, above reproach in respect to values and ethics, and who has a good mind for business and math.

Plus, we take major steps to avoid problems--like the others have said, no cash, two signatures on checks, all reimbursements must have the proper paperwork completed (and must have itemized receipts!!), and every exec board member and her advisor looks over the budget very very carefully.

There was a running joke during my UG days that the newly-elected treasurer always seemed to get a new car shortly after taking office. Nothing hinky happened (it was strictly a timing thing), but we always kept a close eye on our checkbook.

If someone's stealing from the chapter, they s/b prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and automatically bumped to alum-in-bad-standing status. There's no place for this sort of activity in a GLO (or any other organization, for that matter).

That's the problem. There isn't always one of those. And sometimes there is, but he/she doesn't want the responsibility.

Well, in that unfortunate case, our financial advisor would have to step in and work more closely with that sister. If the financial advisor was unable to do so, I guess another advisor would. Luckily, the girls also work with a CPA, so that person would probably notice (I hope!?!) if something majorly shady was going on.

I've heard the examples of what a mistake is, and how stealing isn't a mistake... it's a crime.

I brought this up because like someone above me said, it's actually a big problem. Who knows how often it happens? The main issue I was wondering is... how do you deal with that person?

My philosophy of a brotherhood/sisterhood is to make them better people. By kicking them out, you never really showed that unconditional love. I thought a better resolution would be to educate that person on why it is wrong and how much they've hurt the fraternity/sorority and its individual members. Lastly, I'll give a strong, but reasonable, sentence to that person. Does anyone feel this is to idealistic of a process?

Thanks for all the replies.

You should call them on it and get your advisor (or Alum) to take the proper procedures to have him removed from your fraternity. That is NOT cool AT ALL!! I'm sure your Alums can point you in the right direction.

Great minds think alike.

I'm coming to the conclusion that the sorority treasurer who stole $300 is a friend or your girlfriend.

Dude, she stole money that wasn't hers. If the WORST thing that happens to her is that she gets kicked out of her sorority, she's pretty lucky. If she did this at her job, she might be facing jail time.